Arcane Wonders Forum
Mage Wars => Strategy and Tactics => Topic started by: Dmon3k on April 24, 2014, 12:20:20 PM
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Hi,
So obviously I am trying to take on a Forcemaster using my Warlock. The problem I'm running into is that I play my Warlock as a get in your face quick and beat up on you type, which is the same as the FM except I feel like the FM does it better.
My opponent almost always plays a battle forge turn one, I'm thinking of using Cheetah Speed on my quick cast, and then a surging wave on his battle forge to hopefully take it out before it can produce any equipment. From there I figure to equip my lash of hellfire and then swing on my full cast. Then I would keep launching curses and attacks. I know it seems very rudimentary but I'm still new to the game in general and I've only run the Warlock a few times. I just know that in a prolonged game I end up having trouble because I only run a Goran, Adramelech and a Necropian Vampiress in this book, so I have less creatures to try to eat up Forcefields and defenses, and I know I'm going to have to deal with 1-2 mind control attempts as well.
[spellbook]
[spellbookheader]
[spellbookname]Warlock[/spellbookname]
[mage]Warlock[/mage]
[/spellbookheader]
[spells]
[spellclass]Attack[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1a04]2 x Fireball[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1a05]2 x Firestorm[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1a12]1 x Ring of Fire[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1a06]1 x Flameblast[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKA01]1 x Surging Wave[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Conjuration[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKJ01]1 x Enchanter's Wardstone[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j12]2 x Mana Crystal[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Creature[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1c17]1 x Goran, Werewolf Pet[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1c01]1 x Adramelech, Lord of Fire[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1c26]1 x Necropian Vampiress[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Enchantment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1e31]1 x Poisoned Blood[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e27]1 x Marked for Death[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e09]1 x Agony[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e04]2 x Chains of Agony[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e01]1 x Bear Strength[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e05]1 x Cheetah Speed[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e08]1 x Death Link[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e14]2 x Enfeeble[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e16]1 x Force Hold[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e19]2 x Ghoul Rot[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e20]1 x Harmonize[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e23]1 x Jinx[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e24]2 x Magebane[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e25]1 x Maim Wings[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e29]2 x Nullify[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNE03]2 x Stumble[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e40]1 x Vampirism[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Equipment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1q11]1 x Gauntlets of Strength[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q06]1 x Dragonscale Hauberk[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q10]1 x Fireshaper Ring[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q14]2 x Lash of Hellfire[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKQ06]1 x Eagleclaw Boots[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q21]1 x Moloch's Torment[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q28]1 x Ring of Curses[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ07]1 x Veteran's Belt[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Incantation[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1i02]1 x Battle Fury[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i07]2 x Dissolve[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i06]3 x Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i08]1 x Drain Life[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i11]1 x Explode[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i21]1 x Purge Magic[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i24]1 x Seeking Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i25]1 x Shift Enchantment[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i28]1 x Teleport[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i29]1 x Vampiric Strike[/mwcard]
[/spells]
[cost]Total cost: 120 pts[/cost]
[/spellbook]
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Forcemaster's biggest weakness against a Warlock is direct damage and debuffs.
Instead of getting in a boxing match with her up front, bury her in debuffs first and save the boxing for when she is too busy trying to run damage control.
Use a Wall of Bone (or wall of fire, but bone is cheaper and lower spell cost) to block LOS from her Battleforge.
Then Mage Bane. Then Ghoul Rot. Then Agony. Give her an Enfeeble so you can safely toss fire spells from the distance. Have Moloch's Torment handy for extra damage from your curses. She has to decide if she's going to purge these buffs or just deal with them. If she doesn't purge them she's going to take 3-5 damage every round that bypasses forcefield or defenses.
As she struggles with debuffs and direct damage, she is either going to have to go all out and just try to deal with it (which will let you just play defensively while she melts) or will have to reduce her aggression to try to keep purging them. if you want to keep distance, tangle vine her in place and toss Fireblasts (unavoidable, bypasses defense).
As your anti-forcemaster creature stable use:
Gray Wraith and Skeletal Knights or Sentries (Mort is good to because he can get some taint tokens in there). They are Psy-Immune so she cannot put them to sleep, charm or mind control them.
Another good tool is to give yourself a damage barrier. Any of them are good. The fire one will make her burn herself for hitting you, the lightning one will make her stun/daze herself, or Demonhide Armor will give you some armor too.
In general you want the Forcemaster overwhelmed with things she has to do. "Do I purge debuffs, remove your buffs, manage creatures or attack?" She is the mage least capable of handling multi-tasking, and is the most predictable mage in the game.
Those are kinda general tips you might try to work around or tinker with. The Warlocks biggest advantage over the Forcemaster is his overall flexibility compared to her very rigid strategy. As a Warlock you can shift gears between taking your time, or being aggressive, using creatures, fighting at range, debuffing and direct damage, theres a lot of options you can work with to answer her much more limited approach.
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If you're worried about Mind Control, bring some copies of Mind Shield. There is nothing more satisfying than spending 2 mana and a level 1 spell to counter 12+ mana level 6 spell.
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If you're worried about Mind Control, bring some copies of Mind Shield. There is nothing more satisfying than spending 2 mana and a level 1 spell to counter 12+ mana level 6 spell.
Sadly the only expansion I don't have right now is Forcemaster vs Warlord so Mind Shield is a no go.
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try opening turn enchanters ring, and face down cheetah speed
round 2 adremelech
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For a "get in your face" spellbook, you do not need 2 mana crystal and an harmonize. Get Mort from DvN to get a creature that can't be Mind Controlled.
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wildhorn is right if you are trying to do a quick rush with your warlock then you should not be casting mana crystals. Rushing Warlocks are simply mana starved most of the game and you have to play accordingly. My Warlock book has no mana crystals but by mana starving myself turn 1 I can had Adremelech or my vampire out turn 2 Shift enchantment and cheetah speed is a good way to get in your opponents face quickly. I normally get my big creature in their face which gives me a round or 2 to armor up.
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If you're worried about Mind Control, bring some copies of Mind Shield. There is nothing more satisfying than spending 2 mana and a level 1 spell to counter 12+ mana level 6 spell.
Even better, if you are able to predict the Mind Control and have a Dispel ready. This is even more satisfying as you get to Dispel the Sleep and then activate the creature to remove the Stun markers. Then "Big Smile" as they see 8 (level 3) or 10 (level 4) mana disappear down the drain for basically a 1 turn stun of the creature.
Wand of Healing also works well as it removes the condition without Stunning....
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As baronzaltor said, [mwcard=MW1E09]Agony [/mwcard], [mwcard=MW1E14]Enfeeble [/mwcard] and running away like a gurl...erm 8) ...avoiding manly hand-to-hand combat works quite well. My FM got spanked by a Warlock using that strategy yesterday :'(
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Maybe try to work in a Block and some more Unavoidable attacks. If she can't hit you and can't deflect your attacks then she's gonna go down.
Also like others have said: Curse her to the point of obscurity. You've probably got more curses in your book than they do Dispels after all and you can Dissolve a wand.
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Found out I was giving hints on how to beat my own force master in this thread
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Found out I was giving hints on how to beat my own force master in this thread
Yeah I was silently cackling and taking notes......:)
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Found out I was giving hints on how to beat my own force master in this thread
hehe, this made my day.
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Glad to be of assistance zubrei
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Found out I was giving hints on how to beat my own force master in this thread
Well it didn't work this time, but rest assured I will take down your Forcemaster one day!!!!
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If you're worried about Mind Control, bring some copies of Mind Shield. There is nothing more satisfying than spending 2 mana and a level 1 spell to counter 12+ mana level 6 spell.
Even better, if you are able to predict the Mind Control and have a Dispel ready. This is even more satisfying as you get to Dispel the Sleep and then activate the creature to remove the Stun markers. Then "Big Smile" as they see 8 (level 3) or 10 (level 4) mana disappear down the drain for basically a 1 turn stun of the creature.
Wand of Healing also works well as it removes the condition without Stunning....
I'm not sure it'd be better. Mind Shield avoids the Stun entirely, costs you less mana, and doesn't require you to predict the correct round.
On the other hand it's vulnerable to Seeking Dispel, though I'm not sure that's a big concern.
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[mwcard=FWE08]Mind Shield[/mwcard]
That is a nice play, and at its cost is really worth it from both Mana and Spell points pov.
Timing is what separates me from the better players ;)
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[mwcard=FWE08]Mind Shield[/mwcard]
That is a nice play, and at its cost is really worth it from both Mana and Spell points pov.
Timing is what separates me from the better players ;)
I only have decent timing. It's a large part of the reason my books tend to have a lot of enchantments.
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On a side note, I really think Mind Shield should have been a Novice spell given how limited it is in over all use.
At the very least I wish it hadn't been a Mind card.. its kind of annoying that the one mage it primarily protects you from is the only one trained in it.
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At the very least I wish it hadn't been a Mind card.. its kind of annoying that the one mage it primarily protects you from is the only one trained in it.
I could agree with it being Novice, but thematically Mind Shield has in its name the School that it belongs too. As we have discussed, I think all schools should be very good at something that you really cant get any where else. This to me is one of those spells....I know how you feel about Arcane and Metamagic too....